The Canadian Tamil Conservatives Association [www.constam.ca] has been informed that a Sri Lanka based media has posted news that “Over 140 000 Sri Lankan citizens in Canada could face the risk of losing their Canadian citizenship or return to Sri Lanka after a new immigration law enacted by the Canadian Government dictates that these ‘second class’ citizens may have their citizenship status stripped at any point.”

In our opinion, this particular news contained incorrect information to mislead the public about Canadian Tamils, as the referred new procedures of a revocable citizenship has nothing to do with Tamil Community. The new procedure is targeting those who are knowingly engaged in listed activities that have been published by the Government of Canada as reason for removal of Canadian Citizenship of dual citizens.

Furthermore, the same news item made a referral to the Tamils as “second class citizens” – which is very contrary to the fact that Canada has no such system.

Commenting on the particular news item, Hon. Chris Alexander, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration stated: “We categorically deny that there are such classes in Canadian Citizenship. All of our citizens are treated equally in all matters. The only people who risk having their Canadian citizenship revoked are dual nationals who are convicted of the most serious of crimes: terrorism, treason, spying and taking up arms against Canada or the Canadian Armed Forces. This is a tiny, tiny group of people who do not deserve to enjoy the benefits that come with being a Canadian citizen”.

Minister Alexander further stated that “Canadian citizenship has unprecedented value today precisely because we are prepared to take such steps to keep Canada and Canadians safe. Larger than ever numbers of people continue to want to immigrate to Canada and become Canadian citizens. Last year, over 261,000 new Canadians were awarded citizenship — an all-time record.”(CCP)

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